Gegen den Strich

In a crumbling French château, the last scion of the once‑mighty Floressas family clings to a fragile existence. Jean, a thirty‑year‑old duke marked by pallid skin, trembling hands and haunted eyes, bears the weight of generations that have bled themselves dry through relentless inbreeding. Orphaned early, he drifts between the cold corridors of his ancestral home and the austere halls of a Jesuit college, where his sharp mind shines in Latin but stalls at any hint of true learning.

The narrative follows Jean’s uneasy navigation of a world that has long ceased to cherish his lineage. His parents’ distant, almost spectral presence haunts his memories, while the servants and relatives seem more interested in maintaining appearances than offering genuine support. As he wrestles with his own frailty and the expectations of a name that has lost its vigor, the duke’s quiet determination hints at a struggle that may reshape the remnants of his family’s legacy.